Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group should consider a takeover of a Spanish club owned by Brazilian legend Ronaldo.
FSG’s empire already encompasses baseball giants the Boston Red Sox and ice hockey outfit Pittsburgh Penguins, and they are now in the market to further expand their football portfolio.
They have been linked with takeovers in a number of different leagues worldwide, in both North and South America, Asia and Europe.
And an opportunity has now arisen for the Boston-based group to do a deal with former Barcelona and Real Madrid superstar Ronaldo for a club he owns in northern Spain.
Real Valladolid for sale, FSG could now swoop
According to reputable Spanish media outlet Palco 23, Ronaldo has rejected a £24.4m offer for a 66 per cent stake in his club Real Valladolid from construction company Inexo.
The 47-year-old owns 82 per cent of the total shares in Valladolid and is believed to favour a full rather than partial sale.
Ronaldo, who first bought into the club in 2018, believes second-tier Valladolid could be worth as much as £68m in La Liga.
FSG could do a deal at that price and, as they are understood to be looking for a Category 2 club for recruitment reasons, Valladolid align with kind of profile they are looking for.
What’s more, FSG and Ronaldo have previously shown that they have the same interests when investing in football clubs.
A group led by Ronaldo bought into Cruzeiro for £61m in 2021, the Brazilian Serie A side who he sold again in April in this year for a significant profit at £92m.
FSG rivalled the former striker in the Cruzeiro takeover battled three years ago and his success at the club will have made them all the more disappointed to have missed out.
And while Ronaldo and FSG are in the football investment racket for different reasons, their similar tastes in acquisition opportunities show that a deal for Valladolid could be viable for the Liverpool owners.
Why Liverpool want to start a multi-club network
There are a number of reasons why the multi-club model is attractive to FSG chiefJohn Henry, some sporting, some commercial and some structural.
From an investment perspective, the multi-club model spreads risk across the network of clubs, making them less vulnerable to market fluctuations.
And while Liverpool will always be by far the biggest asset in a prospective multi-club model, developments in English football like a new financial fair play system and theintroduction of an independent regulator mean that they are not quite as safe an investment as they perhaps once were.
However, it seems likely that the main reasons FSG would want to buy another club are to do with recruitment and development of players for Liverpool, who would remain the mothership in a multi-club network.
Man City have used their network of clubs to effectively bypass post-Brexit transfer rules, parking young talent at their outposts in Brazil, Spain and elsewhere in order for them to get the necessary experience to eventually join City permanently or generate a handsome profit for them once sold.
The re-appointments of multi-club advocates Michael Edwards as Liverpool chief executive and Julian Ward as FSG’s technical director meanwhile further indicate that this is part of the owners’ plan, while new Liverpool football director Richard Hughes is a known proponent of the model.
There would be commercial reasons too. Owning multiples clubs would open up opportunities in sponsorship and merchandising, allowing FSG to leverage the Liverpool brand to penetrate new markets.
And while more issues have arisen with multi-club ownership in the City Football Group network in recent months, FSG will still believe the pros outweigh the cons.
Which other clubs could FSG buy?
Another club they could theoretically purchase is Vasco da Gama, the Brazilian side who are available after owners 777 Partners, who are also in a drawn out and seemingly doomed attempt to take over Everton, were removed by the courts in the country.
They have also been tentatively linked with an unnamed MLS side, as well as Ligue 1 club Toulouse.
FSG are believed to be looking at other sides who the FA classify as Band 2, which potentially includes clubs in the Turkish Super League, Portuguese Primeira Liga, Dutch Eredivisie and Belgian First Division A.